"This is getting frustrating Tokiya. You're repeated failures at catching the girl are beginning to become tiresome."
Tokiya winced, but internally was fuming. How dare this bastard not address him by his title of officer, and belittle him like this. Grinding his teeth, he replied coldly to the man hidden in the shadows of the alley.
"Of course sir. I will endeavor to catch the brat as soon as possible."
"Make sure you do, if you keep failing me i will have to...replace you. Do you understand officer?"
Tokiya jumped when the voice was suddenly behind him. This man who was the go between himself and the higher ups was an uncanny creature. He could move with more grace and silence than a cat, but he was as deadly as a venomous snake, as sneaky too.
Tokiya had never seen the man before, had only spoken to him from the shadows like this, but if he had to be honest, Tokiya would admit that he was scared of the man. If he could even be called that. The creature he spoke to wielded powers that no mortal should have. Summoning demons from the darkest corners of hell was a power no man should hold, yet this...sorcerer did.
He had even given Tokiya control over a few of the creatures that had been summoned to help him in his search for the Fuyumi girl. What's so special about that girl anyway? The question was always swirling around in his head these days. It had been since he had gotten the call from his contact who had told him he had another 'special' delivery to make to the higher ups. These 'special' deliveries normally consisted of human trafficking, but he didn't understand why the people he worked for were so desperate to get this elusive girl back in their clutches.
As if reading his thoughts, the man he had come to know as the sorcerer chuckled.
"Why we want her back? It didn't matter before, but she has made some...powerful friends shall we say, and if we have her, we have them. Now, I suggest you get back to what you do best gutter rat, and sniff out the girl's whereabouts and get her delivered soon. You have until the end of the month, after that? Well," The man chuckled hoarsely as if it wasn't a sound that he was used to making. "Well, let's just say you don't want to know what will happen other than that i will enjoy it immensely."
Tokiya all but ran from the alley at those words, his retreating form followed by the coarse laughter that was caught up by the wind and tugged away from him as soon as he exited the dark alley into the sunlight. He almost felt sorry for the girl, but not sorry enough that he would risk his own hide for her.
*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*
The sorcerer watched the tall, dark haired man stalk out of the alley. Glancing over his shoulder like he knew he was being watched, he hurried out of the darkness and into the sunlight before striding away to do his part of the job. It didn't matter what Officer Tokiya did on this job, it was going to be his last one. He was getting sloppy, they all did, but at this rate, it would appear the sorcerer would have a new toy soon enough. Two if all went according to plan and he got the girl too.
The man chuckled, and pulled at the darkness in the alley till it swirled around him enveloping him in a haze of black. The officer working for them thought he was powerful, but he was barely anything at all compared to the people he served.
He smirked as he watched the humans walking by. Any of them could be picked to be the next blood sacrifice, after they captured the elusive girl first, and after she was taken care of and her blood used for a blood ceremony in which the ones in power would absorb the paltry amount of magic that resided in human blood. He smiled to himself as he played with the hair of one of his creations that had dragged itself up to him after the man had ran out of the alley.
It was fun to take the broken bodies of the sacrifices and warp them into something terrifying and horribly evil. He smiled to himself as he pictured what he would turn this new girl into, with her big green eyes, and her thick brown hair that shimmered in the sun. Ah yes, this was going to be a wonderful new toy for him.
Still smiling, he slipped away into the darkness of the next alley over, and soon enough had drifted back to the dark hole he had crawled from. And some people that walked by the alley that held the entrance to his home, often remarked they thought they heard distant wails and screams of agony, but as fast as they thought they heard it, they dismissed the idea as naught but the wind playing tricks on them, and continued on their way.
*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*
Tokiya shivered as he sat down at his desk and booted up his computer. He had a bad feeling about this delivery, he had ever since the first day when he'd had to chase her across a roof and failed to catch her. However, he had sent word out to a few contacts of his, along with pictures and told them to keep a lookout for her.
Moments later had him chortling in triumph as he checked his secret, secured email account and got news that she'd been spotted at the beach with students from Ouran high school.
Of course! How the poor brat got into that prestigious school is beyond me, but it's a solid lead, and i can work with it. With that thought in mind, he started sending out word to several of his less than clean cut colleagues to keep an eye out at the school for her. He was so caught up in his work, that he failed to notice someone coming up to his desk until they stood right next to him.
Jumping slightly, he clicked the tab closed hastily, and turned in his chair with a schooled smile on his face to greet whoever it was. The smile slid off his face at the sight of the familiar blond detective of the precinct. He had hated her and her cold, bitchy attitude since he'd tried to hit her up, and she had told him to go screw himself. Now there was no love lost between them, and they tended to avoid each other as much as possible.
It didn't help things that the cold bitch had been helping the girl he'd tried to kidnap on the very day he had come back to the office after his failed attempt at it. After the subsequent events, she'd been even more cold to him than normal, and he hadn't breathed easily around her for several weeks until he realized that if the girl had told Maria about him she would've had him booked in an instant for assault of a minor, which meant that for whatever reason the girl hadn't told the cops, even though she had recognized him when she saw him in the station. The fear on her face and how she hadn't been able to meet his eyes had made that plainly obvious, but it may just have been that she was scared of the cops. Either way, she hadn't told, and he was going to make sure she never could.
"Can i help you detective?"
His voice as cold, no hint of the smooth smile that he shared with the other girls who swooned over him for his dark good looks in the precinct.
"No, i doubt you could even if you wanted to. The captain told me to drop these off here."
So saying, she dropped a thick stack of paper work on his desk, turned on her heel, and walked away with her head held high and her shoulders straight.
Clenching his teeth, he wondered if after he caught the Fuyumi girl, he could get rid of Detective Maria the same way.
Turning to the paperwork, he groaned at the stack of old cases it looked like he would be filing, and started day dreaming about the money he'd get after this job was over, and could quit the cop life to live one of luxury.
*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*V*
An ocean away, a teenage girl with dark red hair and sea blue eyes was hiding in her room trying to block out her parents screaming from downstairs.
As an only child, Maddy didn't have anyone to go to when her parents fought like this, and the last couple of months, their already rocky marriage had been growing even less steady. Her mother was convinced that her husband was cheating on her, and Maddy didn't have the heart to tell her sweet, gentle mother that her fears were true.
Maddy had caught her father more than once dallying with one of his younger, pretty secretaries, but had been sent away after having been made to promise that it would stay their secret.
The yelling was only getting louder, so, with a pained sigh, the girl stood and scooped up her phone and headphones from off the bed she was sitting on.
Tiptoeing to her window to avoid the squeaky floor boards that littered her room, she slid the window open, and in a move she had practiced a million times, took the short jump out the window onto the thick tree branch that was right next to her window, before sliding down the tree. It was time for her to go to her happy place to escape the shouting that seemed to never end in her house these days.
With that thought in mind, she ran across the front yard to her bike, and jumping onto it, she pedled as quickly as possible down the road and onto an old bike path that led deep into the woods.
Maddy had always loved the woods. The forest was where she went for peace, and to contemplate. It had always been her refuge, ever since she was little, she remembered when she was a toddler all the times she scared her family because she'd escaped them into the ancient woods in ireland to some shady little nook where she would sit and sing childish lullabies to herself and the small forest animals that would creep out to see her.
She had once been joking called snow white for her affinity with animals, but the nickname had long since been forgotten by her parents as their troubles pulled them away from their daughter.
Maddy had never been able to understand where it all went wrong with her family. There had been a time when they were the picture perfect happy family, not a care in the world, but that had all changed one day. It had been within a few weeks of Nala's father calling her's and threatening him, and she had a sneaking suspicion that her uncle had known her father's weakness for pretty blond with fake chests, even faker smiles, cries of passion, and whispered words of fake adoration.
Of course, Maddy hadn't known that as a child, but the first time she'd caught her father, he had made her swear to secrecy, and if she hadn't he swore he would make it possible for her to never see her darling cousin ever again.
If only he knew what Nala, Maria, and i have planned. She snorted in defiance. Her father could rot in a dark, dank hole for all she cared. They had never truly been close, but what her father did behind her mother's back because he was tempted by a bit of cleavage that girls who were after even a bit of his wealth flashed at him, made her sick to her stomach.
Sliding off her bike, Maddy stepped off the trail, deeper into the woods, ducking to avoid bugs and spider webs, she made her way to her secret escape.
It was a lake. A gorgeous lake at that shimmered crystal blue under the sky, filled with bright little fish that caught the stray rays of light and sparkled like gems under water. Weeping willows edged the pond, and old, ancient trees created a vast forest beyond them that one could easily get lost in. Large rocks were scattered here and there under the weeping willows, some edging far out into the lake, and in the middle of the lake, there was a large flat rock that one could easily swim out to, or take leap across the stones that led to it from the opposite end of the lake. With the sun shining, and a few stray, fluffy white clouds in the sky, the lake was magical. Maddy didn't know how no one had found it yet, but she was secretly pleased no one had, because it was her home away from home.
Animals crept around the lake watching her, she smiled softly at them and clicked her tongue as a familiar fox raised it's fluffy head and gave her a grin. They knew her, and held no fear of the young girl with a heart of gold, and a kindness that rivaled most. She'd always had an affinity with animals, ever since she was little, they would come to her, even wild ones, and she had no problem telling them apart from their counterparts or siblings. There had been times when she had wandered off as a toddler, and she remembered them clearly, larger animals, like deer, or the occasional small wolf would come and watch her, letting her curl up against them to sleep. Or letting her sing to them softly. They were some of her happiest memories. If you took out how bugs always came after her and her companion eventually.
She shuddered. If she wasn't so scared of bugs she would probably sleep out here at night, the animals would keep her safe, but as it was, she kept several large ziplock baggies filled with various things in a small natural cubby that the elements had created in one of the giant rocks. In those bags, she kept spare snack food, a blanket, a hoodie, and a change of clothes along with a swimsuit in case anything were to happen while she was out here.
Her phone was ringing incessantly, but she chose to ignore it knowing that it was probably her parents looking for her. She knew her mom knew that she liked to go out into the woods sometimes to get some peace and quiet, so it was most likely her father demanding she come home to defend him to her mother. Something she refused to do.
When it rang again however, she let out a low curse and scooping it up answered with a snap.
"What?"
"Miss Aisling?"
It was a strange man's voice, and she let out a squeak. For all she knew this was some big wig who had gotten her number from her father, and while she would willingly rebel against him any day, she knew that his real work was important to take care of. So, carefully schooling her voice she tried again.
"I'm sorry, yeah that's me. You caught me at a bad moment and i thought you were someone else. My apologies, but may i ask who's calling?"
"Ah, I understand. My name is Kyoya Ootori, and i'm calling in regard of your cousin Nala."
"Nala? Is she ok? But yeah i know who you are, you've been mentioned a few times to me."
He chuckled to himself at that.
"Beyond ok, and i hope all good things. However, knowing your cousin i probably don't want to know the answer to that."
She snorted.
"Yeah, now, what were you calling in regard to Nala about?"
"Ah yes." His voice was cool, calm, like he never lost his temper, and for a moment Maddy didn't understand how Nala was ever able to get along with him. He sounded like a jerk, but, sucking it up for the sake of her cousin, she let him continue. "Nala had mentioned you'd be arriving here in a few weeks, and on behalf of her, and the rest of the host club, we would like to make your stay welcoming. So i have been put in charge of offering our services to you should you wish them."
Yep, he's one of those.
"Look Kyoya, i hope you don't mind if i use your first name even though it's not exactly decorum. I appreciate the offer, but i won't mooch of my cousin's friends, no matter how much they want to help, it wouldn't be fair to Nala and she would want to take the burden of it on herself and i won't let her do that. Secondly, i don't know you, and i'm not comfortable putting my safety in a stranger's hands. So thanks, but no thanks."
She knew she was being blunt, but it was just part of who she was, she didn't know any other way to put out what she had to say. She was treated to another one of his chuckles.
"You are very similar to your cousin miss Aisling. I understand, but i think you should trust me on this one, i can't entirely explain the situation as it's one Nala needs to explain herself, but it would be wise for you to come to Japan with caution, and to be careful when you arrive."
Not sure how to respond to those words, Maddy was left in silence for a moment.
"Um, thanks Kyoya? If it's really that serious should i wait to talk to Nala in Japan face to face, or would a long distance phone call be ok?"
"I would suggest doing it face to face. There are some people who have gained an interest in your cousin as i'm sure she's mentioned to you, and we're not sure how high up these people are."
Maddy frowned at the water in front of her.
"Yeah, she told me. Alright, got it. Thanks Kyoya," The buzzing of an incoming call from my mom had me wincing. "As much as i'd like to talk to you about this more in detail, can we perhaps chat at a later date? I have a bit of an urgent call i need to take now."
"Of course Miss Aisling. I would advise saving my number however."
"Yup, got ya covered on that already, thanks Kyoya, but i gotta run. Shoot me a text because i have some questions for you, but i gotta go so bye!"
"Alright Miss Aisling. I will talk to you soon. Goodbye."
With that, he hung up on the girl, who was left staring at her phone as it buzzed with her mother's incoming call, and the question ringing around her head in circles.
How bad is the situation Maddy is in? Will i need to bring protection?
I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Japan, try not to hurt my cousin too badly before i get there.
With that thought in mind, she answered the call, and prepared to play the part of the unhurt, loving daughter, to console a broken hearted mother.
***Author's Note****
Hi guys! CHAPTER 30 WOOHOO! I worked really hard to get this together, and i wanted to do something special to celebrate, so you got some bad guy's perspectives, and a bit more information on Maddy in this one. Special thanks again to ktmyldy28 for her brilliant idea. It was greatly appreciated, and was exactly what i needed to work with. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, what did you think of the sorcerer? And Tokiya? Sinister enough? I've never tried writing from the bad guy's perspective before in anything, so this was a first attempt for me, but did it work? Also, what's the verdict on Maddy from this chapter? Did you guys like her having an affinity with animals and some of her background? And Kyoya contacting her? Let me know!
Also, i'm hoping this won't be my last update before school, but at the moment i don't have any inspiration for chapter, so if any of you guys have ideas feel free to let me know! Thanks everyone! Enjoy!